


To Be Free Again

by dulcewrites



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin is about 16 in this Ahsoka is about 10, Child Abuse, Pre-Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Slavery, idk what to tag i'll add more later i guess!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-09-13 03:52:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16885134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dulcewrites/pseuds/dulcewrites
Summary: Plo Koon never saved the little girl from Shili. Years later Padawan Anakin Skywalker encounters a child slave.





	1. Chapter 1

"Don't forget your second blade" A tall human man stood in the training salles of the Jedi temple

"I'll try master Skywalker" a young togruta with a string of beads hanging from an akul headdress replied evenly

Sensing her disappointment in herself Anakin took a deep breath.  
  
"You're doing great" he reassured the padawan, his padawan "It takes time to learn to wield two lightsabers"  
  
Obi Wan Kenobi felt contentment in the force... And then... He woke up.

A pleasant dream, he mused. But a dream at that. There was no way that it was a vision, the only togruta in the order who would even vaguely resemble that that could be young enough to ever become Anakin's padawan was still an infant, and her markings were very different from the girl in his dream.

Still, the thought of Anakin with a padawan of his own, the thought stirred something in his chest similar to pride. Anakin wasn't the type to want to take a padawan though, he knew. Obi Wan sat up to see the teenage boy sleeping in the bunk across from him. He could never imagine Anakin being quite that much taller than him either, definitely just a dream.

It was quickly forgotten as he got up and prepared for the day.

They were on their way to a mission. Or on their way to his mission rather, a situation in which The Negotiator was needed.

Best case scenario, Anakin would probably be bored the whole time. He would tell Anakin that it would be useful for him to pay attention to learn about diplomacy, but he knew the boy would just tune out half the things he was saying anyway.

Worst case scenario, Anakin won't be bored and there will be some unexpected chaos that would lead to a fight. While the worst case tended to happen more often than he would like, he didn't think there would be much issue in this particular mission. It would likely be quite a boring mission for him as well to be honest. Some rich leader not wanting to share some important resource.

Obi Wan Kenobi may be a wise Jedi, but he definitely isn't always right.

After they landed they were escorted to their room to wait to be called to speak with the king.

Anakin was already growing restless.

"I don't understand why there even is a problem here, people are starving, dying, all for what? So some rich ruler can make profit? It's not like he can make any money when the people of his planet and the surrounding ones are all dead." He scoffed

"Unfortunately Padawan, sometimes greed can overrule logic."

"No one should be allowed to do this. It shouldn't be an option that we need to negotiate with him about. He shouldn't be allowed. The republic should be doing something"

"The republic is doing something, they sent us. While I quite agree with the sentiment, what he's doing is wrong and he shouldn't be allowed to do it, we can't force people to do things the way we want them to. We can guide them, try to teach them to do better, but we cannot force others to bend to our will."

Anakin huffed and remained quiet until they were called. This was an argument that they had had numerous times in various forms depending on the situation at hand.

An hour or so of awkward silence later, Anakin had calmed his anger and they had been discussing a topic he was studying for one of his temple classes when an attendant came to bring them to the King to introduce themselves.

As soon as they stepped through the door Obi Wan immediately knew that this was not going to be a quiet mission.

Anakin let out a soft gasp as his heart sank, and then immediately the resentment he had held before increased tenfold.

The King, a rather unimpressive looking man, sat in an ornate throne. The King and his gaudy aesthetic weren't the problem however. At his feet sat kneeling a small and scantily clad togruta child. Her clothing consisting of simple black bands with large chunky gold embellishments. A leash and collar around her neck tethered to the throne.

She sat quietly, eyes fixed on the floor, not looking up once the entire meeting.

Obi Wan also did not acknowledge her presence, at least not verbally. To the King he remained polite and courteous. Through the force however he sent warning to Anakin to hold himself back.

Anakin couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He felt bad for staring but if she was uncomfortable with him looking it certainly didn't show.

He was ready to explode by the time they made it back to their room.

"We're going to do something about this right? We have to do something about this!" He spat frantically as if he were breathing fresh air after being nearly drowned.

"Anakin" Obi Wan reprimanded

"Slavery is illegal in the Republic! He can't do that!"

"Anakin"

"We have to do something. He can't be allowed to just... Do that!"

"ANAKIN" He finally raised his voice "Yes, it is illegal, but if you think that there isn't corruption within the republic than..."

"There's no way he can just get away with that, she's a child! We have to do something, tell someone, the Chancellor!"

"Chancellor Palpatine is good friends with the King. He was just here a few weeks ago, it was him who suggested that they send Jedi to help resolve the conflict. It wasn't us personally who he had suggested, but I digress. It's quite likely that the Chancellor already knows unless she was.... well... a recent purchase."

Anakin stood aghast as he tried to process what he was being told.

"I can't imagine what he was thinking though, parading his illegal child slave in front of two Jedi like that. Perhaps.... some strange display of his wealth... Or a message that he does what he wants regardless of morality." Obi Wan continued

Anakin sunk into a chair and pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. Obi Wan gave a sorrowful glance and knelt down in front of the boy, placing his hand soothingly on his knee.

"Anakin I'm sorry... I don't like this either. Sometimes there just isn't anything we can do in situations like this. If we cause a commotion over one child, the King will never listen to us. Think of all the people we'll be helping in the long run. "

Anakin repositioned himself, slouching and crossing his arms, looking down and away from him.

Obi Wan sighed. He was getting too old for this. Both of them were getting too old for this. His com beeped and he pulled his hand away. "I have to take this" he told Anakin and stood up.

Almost immediately after Obi Wan answered his call there was a knock at the door. They had been told that their food would be brought to their room so it wasn't unexpected.

"Door's unlocked, you can come in!" Anakin shouted, which earned him a glare from Obi Wan and the word _'manners'_ mouthed at him.

"Ugh, fine." he began to get up from his seat when the door opened.

Another attendant stood at the door and pushed in the cart of food. She was followed by the girl from before.

"Your dinner, Masters, and a gift from my Lord" she said quickly and gestured at the girl "some entertainment for the night" and with that, the maid was off before Anakin could even speak a word of protest.

He felt bile at the back of his throat, he fought himself not to vomit at the insinuation. She's a child! He stood in shock at the girl, who remained standing by the now closed door. Eyes still fixed on the floor. He couldn't quite tell if she wasn't paying attention or listening intently. Likely waiting on order.

"Well I suppose that's what you get for staring at her so intently before, it seems you've given the King the wrong impression" Obi Wan turned to Anakin, now finished with his call. He went over and pulled out a chair out from the table. "At least while she's here, you won't have to worry about her. That's a decent compromise."

"Come dear, sit." he directed at the girl. She complied and sat at the table, not making eye contact once. "Would you care for some tea?" Obi Wan waited a moment for a reply that never came, and went off to make tea regardless.

Anakin studied the girl. The chained collar had been replaced with a shock one, likely to keep her compliant at a distance. The King was not only a money hungry sleemo but a slave owning scum, and likely, by his "gift", pedophile. He didn't want to negotiate with a man like that. The only thing a man like that deserves is a lightsaber through his chest, or a nice beheading.

As if she could sense his anger, he noticed the child trembling lightly. Her jaw clenched and breathing hitched. He stepped outside of his own thoughts and felt her overwhelming nervousness. No sentient being deserved this.

He took a deep breath and went over to sit down next to her. She tensed.

"Hey." he spoke softly "We're not going to hurt you little one, it's okay."

He reached out one hand and gently placed it on the girl's arm. She fidgeted a bit but continued to stare at her lap.

"We're not going to hurt you." he reiterated "We're Jedi"

That finally got her to snap out of it, her eyes met his, but to his surprise the look on her face was not one of fear, but of defiance.

"The Jedi are **bad**." She said firmly

"What?!" Anakin was taken aback by her statement

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Immediately standing up and knocking over the chair, she ran to the door and darted out of the room.

"Hey wait!" Anakin called out behind her, by the time he got to the door he saw her down the hall on the ground being shocked by the collar. A guard coming to pick her up.

Obi Wan came over and put his and on Anakin's shoulder, directing him back into their room.

"Well" he said "That was rather odd, wouldn't you say?"

"What. Why?" Anakin rambled "Why would she say that? The Jedi are bad? What does that mean? Why would she think--"

"Perhaps something the King may have said behind our backs I suppose. I can't think of any reason a child would come to that conclusion on their own... Perhaps... I need to reevaluate my approach to dealing with him"

The words went in one ear and out the other, dealing with the King was the last of Anakin's concern right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where I'm actually going with this it was just a concept I had in my head. As the story progresses i'd love to get suggestions from you guys though! 
> 
> I'm mostly just a "writing the fics I want to read" type person lmao but I'd love to take you guys along for the ride as well. 
> 
> and just a psa for anyone who had read my child of light series, which i haven't updated in months, it's been deleted, but not permanently. I plan to rewrite it from the beginning and make it all one longer story because moving forward I wasn't happy with the start of it and I had no idea what to do with the rest regarding how it was split up.


	2. Chapter 2

Anakin couldn't sleep. Something in the force kept telling him this is important. She's important. Of course she is. Every living being is. He wished his Master would stop being such a stick in the mud and try to get that little girl out of this hellhole.

A task that's going to be even harder now that he knows she's afraid of them. The Jedi aren't bad. Or maybe they are if Master Kenobi continues to refuse to see how big of a deal this is. He knows that they need to negotiate with the King, but why can't part of the negotiation be to free the girl? It's illegal to own slaves in the republic!

He wondered what Padme would think of their current predicament. He had heard through the holonews that she had recently been elected as a member of the Galactic Senate. In the picture of her on the article she was still as beautiful as he remembered her being when he was a child.

Obi Wan insisted that politicians weren't to be trusted, but he knew that if Padme saw what was going on she would do something about it. She was too kind, too good of a person to sit around and do nothing like he's doing while a child suffered on a planet where there should definitely be legal repercussions for the one causing it.

Thoughts of Padme finally lulled him to sleep. He would meet her again someday. He just knew it.

He woke up groggy and moody. Obi Wan wanted to do morning meditation but at this point Anakin didn't want to speak to him let alone meditate with him. Why couldn't he see how unreasonable he was being? Anakin couldn't wait for the day he was knighted, he'd never have to listen to Obi Wan again!

Another knock on the door. Anakin hoped it would only be breakfast and nothing traumatic again. Obi Wan gave him a glance and went to open the door this time.

The King stood at the door.

"Is there a problem good sir?" Obi Wan prayed Anakin hadn't get them into any trouble.

"No no, the trouble is all mine" He said feigning a warm smile. The force around him screamed _'deceit'_ "It seems there's been a bit of a misunderstanding."

"Oh?"

"I sent my dear pet here last night, but I fear you may have gotten the wrong idea and frightened the poor thing. She may appear somewhat humanoid, but she's just an animal. Little thing can't speak let alone understand a word you're saying. I hope we didn't give you or your Padawan a startle."

Obi Wan wondered just how many people the King had fed that lie to to be able to keep that child here. Then go lying to a Jedi about it as well after making what was clearly some kind of perverse bribe. Just what was this man trying to pull? Was this some kind of distraction or did he really think that this would get him on their good side?

"I see. Well. No harm no foul."

"Indeed." The King clapped his hands together "Well I must be off. I'm a busy man as you can imagine and I know you have a meeting with my people and their silly little representitive today. I will see you again soon."

As soon as the door was shut Anakin opened his mouth.

"He's lying!" He spat

"I am quite aware of that"

"He's lying, you heard her, she can speak, she's not an animal. There are Jedi who are her species, Master Ti isn't an animal!"

"Yes, Anakin, I know"

"That's why she got so scared. She wasn't supposed to talk. That sleemo's been keeping a kid here as a pet! I can't believe-"

"Anakin! You must calm down!"

"NO, you un-calm down! This isn't okay we can't just leave her and turn a blind eye to this! We're Jedi, we're supposed to be the good guys!"

"Anakin, I already told you, I don't like it either, but we have to think of the good of the many over just one. If you can't calm yourself down I'm going to have to ask you to stay behind while I go to discuss the issues with the citizens. We've been allowed access to the castle's gardens. Perhaps you can go outside and find a relaxing place to study or do your meditation since you have refused to do so this morning."

Anakin of course chose to stay behind and sulk.

He did go outside as Obi Wan recommended though. He found a quiet area with a bench to sit on and brood. Being from a desert planet he was always mildly intrigued by various plant manner on the planets they visited. Not enough to want to learn anything about them, but if he was looking in the direction of any kind of flower or foliage he appreciated it.

The silence didn't last for long before he heard shouting in the distance and of course had to go and see what was up. If he was lucky someone had come to murder the king and he could have accidentally not made it in time to help, he mused.

When he got to the source of the sounds he saw the guards running. And in the direction they were running in the little girl was running away. Once she hit a dead end she began quickly scaling the wall. She was trying to escape!

He was honestly impressed with how agile she was for such a small and fragile looking little thing.

But beyond admire her athletic abilities he didn't know what to do. If she did managed to escape and she was chipped, she wouldn't get far before she died. He didn't want to help them catch her either and have her be punished for trying to break free.

His dilemma didn't last long as one of the guards shot off a stun blast and the small body fell from nearly the top of the wall to the ground with a small thud.

She was once again carried away.

A feeling of dread pooled itself in Anakin's stomach. Was she injured? What were they going to do with her now?

Without Obi Wan to hold him back he followed behind the men. Stealth was not his strong suit but if he was caught he could always practice mind tricks. He could just tell Master Kenobi he was studying and it wouldn't be a complete lie.

Eventually they brought her to a room and shortly after entering it left. He waited until the coast was clear before making his way to the door. It was locked but he made quick work of the mechanism and it flew open.

Inside, to his surprise, was what seemed to be a normal child's bedroom. It was a bit bare but he didn't expect a slave owning scumbag to bother providing the kid with any toys or books or anything. The girl was laying on the bed not moving a muscle, he went to check her pulse. He wasn't a healer but she seemed fine as far as he could tell, just unconscious.

Anakin had made it this far though, he might as well wait until she was awake so he could talk to her and find out what she meant yesterday.

He went to pull out a chair at the table in the room so he could sit down only to find that it was bolted to the floor. Upon further inspection, everything in the room was bolted down. Even the sheets and pillow on the bed seemed to be stitched down into place. Very odd.

He decided to sit on the foot of her bed instead. He regretted not sitting on the floor though as when she woke up she knocked him off, hard. Funny, he hadn't thought he was sitting close enough to her for her to push him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she said pointedly, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a cross look show her displeasure. The action would have been more effective had she not winced sitting herself up. It was a rather high fall though, Anakin was just glad she could sit up.

"Hey, no need to get snippy with me." he stood himself up and dusted his robes off "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I saw you before when you were trying to escape."

"Why do you care?"

"Well... I'd rather not have to witness a youngling get herself blown up. And I kinda wanted to talk to you. About what you said yesterday. About the Jedi being bad. It's not true."

At the mention of Jedi, her irritation dissolved into fear. Eyes immediately darting to the door, calculating which direction would be the best to get around him.

She was still afraid of him. If he wanted her to talk to him he was going to have to level with her.

"I already said I wasn't going to hurt you." He sat back down on her bed, she flinched away pulling her knees up to her body and burying her head in them.

"Hey. Listen. Don't tell anyone I told you this..." He really didn't want to talk about it but "I was a slave too once... The Jedi freed me."

Her head darted back up and she looked at him absolutely offended.

"You're lying" She accused

"No. I'm not. I was from Tattooine. My mother is a slave, I was a slave. Master Kenobi's Master found me, he freed me."

She continued to stare at him with such scrutiny he felt like one of the Masters at the temple were trying to tell if he modified one of the cleaning droids again and were about to scold him or if it genuinely was just a malfunction. Eventually her gaze softened to a more perplexed look.

"You're not lying."

"No." he repeated "I'm not"

"But that can't be true"

"And why not?"

"Because it was a Jedi who took me from my home and sold me"


	3. Chapter 3

"WHAT?" Anakin felt like he had all he wind knocked out of his lungs.

"Now you think I'm lying" She gave a sad smile

"No no. I just." he held back his anger, it wasn't going to help her "I don't understand. Why would a Jedi do that?"

Suddenly he felt his lightsaber tug from his belt. He watched as it floated across the space between them and snapped into her hand. She immediately handed it back to him. He was too suprised to be upset, not to mention it wasn't like she was trying to steal it.

It made sense now that everything in the room was held down, it was so she couldn't use any it to defend herself.

She's force sensitive, holy kriff.

"I was three. When they came to get me. I could tell they were a bad person, but everyone was mad at me, thought I was just being a brat, but I wasn't, I knew. They weren't going to take me back with them. They just saw me as an easy way to make some credits."

A million thoughts ran through Anakin's mind. How could this have been happening right under his nose? Granted he wasn't the biggest fan of dealing with younglings and avoided creche duty like the plague and had never even been in an initiate clan, so he supposed it was possible. Do they just do this? They go and collect force sensitive children and they don't bring all of them back? Is it just one or a few corrupt Jedi? Does Master Kenobi know? Should he tell him?

"I'm sorry" the girl said in a small voice, snapping him back to the present.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for little one" he reached over and rubbed his hand soothingly on her back. There it was again, the feeling that she was someone important.

"No I meant... For spying on you."

"OH!" that's why the King needed to have her near them, she had mentioned that she knew the Jedi who came for her was untrustworthy, she had a natural force talent for reading people. "That's fine too... It's not like you had a choice. You still have nothing to be sorry for."

She looked like she was considering something, then proceeded to bumped her head into his torso and attempt to wrap her tiny arms around him in a hug.

"I like you, we're friends, I decided just now."

"Oh? Really? And I don't get say in this?" He chuckled, she was feisty, bold, and yet somehow very sweet. He imagined they could have been friends some day if she had gone to the temple like she was supposed to. If she could retain her own personality in this situation he's certain she would have as a Jedi too.

"Nope." She grinned up at him mischievously

"Well if we're friends I suppose I should introduce myself properly, I'm Anakin Skywalker, what's your name?"

"I'm not supposed to." She fidgeted

"Not supposed to tell anyone? Well from what I gather you aren't supposed to talk either so you might as well."

"I mean... don't know if I should say... I'm gonna be in enough trouble as it is. I'm only supposed to talk in front of the King, when he tells me to." She paused for a minute and went back to her habit of looking down "I'm not supposed to have a name. I'm not supposed to be a person. I'm just an animal, a pet. If you slipped up and anyone else found out... He'd be really mad."

He didn't want to be upset. He wouldn't be upset. Being upset in front of her is only going to make things worse.

"Hey, no. You're a person. Don't think anyone can ever take that away from you. You don't have to tell me anything if you aren't comfortable with it. I can just call you Snips for now, coz you're so snippy"

Her smile returned and she shoved him again, but playfully. This time he could feel her hands against him, it made more sense now realizing that the first shove had been with the power of the force.

The force around them felt like the sun shining on your skin after a cold night. There was definitely something important about this girl. Being around her just felt right. Anakin didn't understand why but he knew that no matter what he had to protect this child at all costs.

He felt her attention shift from him and begin to form into panic again. It was strange being around someone so emotionally charged after years of being a Jedi. Not only was she not properly trained to contain herself, she had obviously led a difficult life on top of it and her quick shifting of emotions and skittishness were definitely consequences of that.

Anakin knew how difficult the life of a slave could be. He was thankful he had always had his mother there for him through it all. This little girl had no one. She was all alone in her suffering for all these years. He couldn't let that continue.

"You need to leave" she said in a rush "He's coming, I know it, you need to leave now."

"What? No! I won't leave you."

"Please please please Anakin, I need you to go. We can talk more later." She was standing now and trying to yank him up from where he was sitting.

"No, I know what will happen if I go. I won't let anybody hurt you Snips, I promise."

"But I'll be in more trouble if you stay! And you'll probably be in trouble too with your master, the Jedi."

He wanted to correct her that he was also a Jedi, but she was right, he would likely get in trouble. He didn't even know if he could trust Obi Wan anymore after hearing what the Jedi had done to this girl. Even if he could, he wouldn't understand what he was trying to do and just think that Anakin was ruining their mission.

He spotted an air vent. He really didn't want to leave her, but it would be good if he could figure out a way between Snips' room and theirs without people seeing.

"Alright." He agreed reluctantly and stood "But I'm coming back for you, I don't have a plan yet but I swear to you that I will find a way to make things better for you."

She looked disbelieving, but thankful for the thoughts. She hugged him again quickly one more time before he climbed up the table and made his way into the vent, closing it behind him.

He was going to rescue her, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shows up late with a short chapter and starbucks*


	4. Chapter 4

Anakin didn't have a full plan yet, but he had ideas on where to start. He had come up with an idea for a scanner to locate chip implants in slaves as a child. Having left Tattoine he had never gotten a chance to get a start on it.

Now he was older and had better ideas on how he would go about making such a thing. It might take a few tries but it would be worth it in the long run. He would be able to save Snips. Plus any other slaves he might encounter in the future. Unfortunately in this situation it wouldn't be as easy as remove the chip and let her run away, she was a child and likely wouldn't be able to make it on her own. The scanner was only part one.

He wanted to get a start on building his scanner but unfortunately Obi Wan had returned. Apparently his appointment with the King tomorrow had been cancelled due to a scheduling issue. They would be having dinner with the King instead. Apparently his planet was on the verge of civil war and he wasn't taking it seriously whatsoever.

Anakin couldn't excuse himself to work on it because he didn't know if he could trust Obi Wan anymore. Or any of the Jedi for that matter having learned what had happened to Snips. Even if he could Obi Wan just wouldn't understand. He needed to do this, he didn't care about placating some sleemo ruler. But he had to go, so as not to raise suspicion.

In the King's lavish dining room Snips had her usual spot sitting at the King's feet. Her clothes had been changed to a blue outfit that while covering more skin than the last was still far too suggestive for a child to be wearing. It seemed to be an attempt at covering up whip marks that peeked out her shoulders and lower back, bruises up an exposed section of her leg. Punishment for her attempted escape.

When dinner was served the child was fed out of a bowl on the floor, like she was an animal. The humiliating display made Anakin uncomfortable to the point where he felt too sick to his stomach to want to eat his own food. His anger from previous meetings with the King had been overpowered with concern for his new little friend.

When she was finished eating she looked up at the King and let out a series of high pitched trills and chirps. Anakin wondered if it was some kind of code or just part of the ruse to convince people that she was less than a person.

The King placed his hand between her little stumps of montrails and stroked her head, distracting from his conversation with Obi Wan to address the noise making.

"What is it, my beloved pet? Are you growing restless? You'll have to wait. Hush now."

She continued to chirp at him with added urgency, to which he replied by shushing her louder. She plopped herself on the floor in response.

Anakin watched her pouting until she caught him looking and made eye contact. She looked like she was considering something again before she gave him a friendly smile in attempt to lessen his concern.

Obi Wan, once again, remained professional through the whole thing. When they got back to their room Anakin was too emotionally exhausted to even want to argue about it. He just ignored him and went to bed.

While he was still slightly awake he felt Obi Wan's hand on his head, ruffling his hair gently, and heard a sigh. If he wasn't so tired he would have gotten up right then and there and yelled at him. He had no right to pretend he cared if he wouldn't stick up for Snips too.

That night he dreamed of Padme again. Not unusual. However this time she was a bit older than he had last seen her on the holonews, still as beautiful. They were walking together through the senate building. He was towering over her, his voice sounding much more adult than it did now.

"Uhh.. I suggest you teach my young padawan a thing or two about politics"

A young togruta walked from beside Padme to in front of her. Although more spread out and defined than now, the markings on her face were familiar.

The dream felt strangely real and yet much of the conversation seemed hazy.

"Thanks for your help, come on Ahsoka" Padme said before walking away

The girl, Snips, his new friend, following after the senator.

He felt a mix of amusement and humored annoyance in himself, and then he woke up.

Ahsoka, he thought to himself. That was her name. She was supposed to have been his padawan. That's why she was so important. Yet here she was, a slave.

He felt his anger rise again. She was supposed to have been his padawan yet here she was, a slave, not having been born into it, but because the Jedi had sold her off. Had they determined she wasn't good enough to be trained? If anything, Ahsoka was too good for them! Look how strong in the force she was without proper training!

His anger must have woken Obi Wan up because suddenly the light was on and the other man was standing in front of him.

"Anakin? Is everything alright?" He looked down at him with concern

"Don't look at me like that, you know what's wrong. I can't just leave her like this!" Anakin spat.

"Oh dear." He sat down beside him "Anakin if I had known I wouldn't have taken you on this mission. Unfortunately there's really nothing we can do." He paused a moment "Would you like me to arrange for you to be sent back to Coruscant?"

"NO!" he panicked "No." he repeated, calmer, he couldn't leave her, he promised he wouldn't leave her. "I'm sorry. I'll try harder to control my emotions. It's just.... you saw her injuries earlier didn't you?"

"Yes. I had noticed. I'm sorry you had to see all that Anakin. It's was... abase... and highly distasteful. I do feel for her, honestly. I wish we could help, but I just can't think of any way that would be possible without ruining the mission."

Anakin wanted to yell that he was lying, that it was the Jedi's fault that she was here. But he couldn't risk being sent home without saving Ahsoka. He had to keep his cool. For her sake.

"She tried to escape earlier, I saw her, in the gardens. They punished her for trying to leave. I know I always have trouble keeping my emotions in check, but this is a lot. Maybe... It's some kind of test. Like I'm meant to be here and if I can push through I'll be a better Jedi?"

"Perhaps." Obi Wan gave a slight smile "I'm very proud of you for listening to reason on this, you're being very mature."

Anakin smiled back knowing he was dodging the truth. He wasn't going to just let this go. He couldn't. He would be disappointing Obi Wan, but this was too big of a deal for him to let himself care about that. He knew the Force had meant for him to be here, but not for a lesson on containing emotions. Anakin was here to save his padawan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess this chapter is pretty short too, oh well, who's counting anyway? 
> 
> I have a bit of an idea of what direction this is going in, but not 100%. Suggestions are always welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

The second Obi Wan left in the morning Anakin got to work on his first prototype of the scanner. Around noon he decided to stop and work on his studies so that he would have completed some of it by the time he would return.

He was thankful for his decision when he heard the door slide open. Trying to remain engrossed in the material he was reading he didn't look up until he felt someone plop onto his bed in front of him. That wasn't Obi-Wan.

"Hey there Snips" he looked down at the tiny togruta flopped face first on the bed.

She rolled herself over and grinned.

"Watcha doin?" she said looking back up at him

"Studying"

She sat herself up, this kid was even fidgetier than him!

"Jedi stuff?" She scrunched her nose

"Kinda. Stuff about the force. Come here, you can learn with me. Since you're force sensitive too."

"Okay" she plopped herself in his lap and together they looked at the holopad in front of them. She made a serious face and then frowned. "What's that say?"

He read the text to her. She was silent for a few minutes, making the serious face again.

"What does that say?"  
  
He quickly realized what she was doing and laughed. She really thought she was going to get away with pretending she understood through the whole lesson while being too stubborn to admit what was wrong.

"If you can't read you don't have to pretend silly, I can show you."

The lesson about the force turned into a combined force and reading lesson. Two birds one stone. She was picking up very quickly. A fast learner.

Teaching her felt right. Of course. She was supposed to have been his Padawan. He wanted her to have been his Padawan.

He didn't know what was going to happen next. He would free her, but where would she go from there? Would he never see her again?

He was so engrossed in his thoughts and being with Ahsoka that he didn't hear the door open a second time.

Ahsoka however, did hear it. Suddenly he went from helping her read to having her face buried in his robes.

He looked around to see what was distressing her and saw Obi Wan entering the room and walking towards them with an eyebrow raised.

She growled at him.

"Master you're scaring her!" Anakin protested and turned his attention to Ahsoka "Hey hey it's okay little one, no one's gonna hurt you, not while I'm around"

Her growls turned to panicked whimpers and tears, Anakin continued to try to soothe her.

"I suppose it was too good to be true that you would mind your own business." Obi Wan frowned "What was she even doing in here?"

"I was just teaching her how to read!" Anakin said defensively

"Anakin." He said disapprovingly "You must not get attached. It'll just make it harder when we leave"

Anakin opened his mouth

"Oh no." Obi Wan said preemptively

"I can't leave her!"

"Anakin we talked about this." He said flatly

"You don't understand! Or maybe you do! Maybe you're in on it too!" Anakin accused "It's the Jedi's fault that Ahsoka is here!"

Ahsoka's crying suddenly ceased and she pulled back in shock.

"What in the galaxy are you talking about?" Obi Wan said in equal surprise

"I never told you my name...." Ahsoka interjected. Big blue eyes all puffy from tears analyzed Anakin. "I never told you, how did you know my name is Ahsoka?"

"I.... uh" He looked at Ahsoka "I heard it in a dream? I know it sounds crazy.... but it's true"

She seemed surprisingly satisfied with that answer and buried herself back into his robes, he held on to her a little tighter even though he knew Obi Wan would never harm an innocent child. She didn't know that, so Anakin wanted to make sure she felt as safe as possible.

He looked up at Obi Wan who was also waiting on an explanation and sighed.

"Master... I can't leave Ahsoka. She's important. The force is telling me so, besides... She's force sensitive. She was supposed to come to the temple when she was little but... the Jedi who came to get her from her home planet sold her instead. That's why she's so afraid of you. It's the Jedi's fault that she's here. I don't know exactly what's going on or how it happened, but I know Ahsoka's telling me the truth... I think... She was supposed to have been my padawan someday. That's what I saw in my dream. We're supposed to be connected and that's why the force led us here."

Obi Wan ran his hand through his hair and looked at the child clinging to his Padawan for dear life. Something about her certainly seemed familiar but he couldn't place what.

"If that's true it certainly is a disturbing circumstance. I would hate to think someone in the order is selling off the children entrusted to us."

"So you didn't know about it?" Anakin felt a massive weight lift off his shoulders, although the tiny weight against is chest didn't seem like she was willing to budge any time soon.

"Force no, Anakin! Is that why you've been avoiding me so much these past few days? You think I would be involved in something like that?"

"I... didn't know what to think." He glanced down and realized that Ahsoka had fallen asleep "She's strong, for someone who's never been trained, at least not formally. She can lift objects with precision and seems to have a natural talent for reading people. That's why the King kept wanting her around us, she was supposed to be a spy of sorts."

"I'll need to contact the Council to tell them about this. Anakin?"

"Yes Master?"

"I know you believe she was meant to have been your Padawan, but I can't guarantee that even if we can get her out of here that the Jedi will accept her. You know she's too old, you were a special case. I don't know what will happen to her from there."

"I know."


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, wake up." Anakin shook the tiny togruta on his lap. She had been napping for about three hours.

"I think this is the longest I've seen you sit in one place" Obi Wan joked "If I tell the council about this maybe they'll let us keep her around after all"

Anakin rolled his eyes.

Ahsoka started to stir, let out a small yawn, rubbed her eyes, and then proceeded to press herself back into Anakin. She was awake now but still refusing to move.

"Hello there little one"

A responding growl.

"Master Kenobi isn't going to hurt you Ahsoka I swear."

"I just want to ask you a few questions, is that alright?"

The snarling would have probably been more effective if she wasn't tiny and sounded like an angry loth cat. Anakin bit back his amusement.

"You can stay on Anakin's lap if you want I just want to clear some things up, I mean you no harm."

"Master Kenobi just wants to help. Please Ahsoka, let us help you."

She looked at Obi Wan with stern judgement, realizing immediately what she was doing he let down his shields enough to assure the child that he truly had no ill intentions. Anakin was right, she definitely was force sensitive.

Her expression lightened and she cocked her head to the side curiously.

Obi Wan gave her a warm smile.

She climbed off Anakin's lap and plopped herself cross legged on the floor with her arms folded over her chest, attempting to maintain an assertive posture but clearly more willing to cooperate.

"Can you tell me more about how you came here?"

She scrunched her nose. "It was a long time ago. I don't remember a lot. I remember the people of my tribe realized I was force sensitive, and then they called you guys, the Jedi" she said with a touch of added disdain emphasizing the word Jedi "They sent someone to come get me, and I could tell right away that they were a bad person, and I told the leader that they were bad, and they didn't believe me, and when the Jedi picked me up I screamed and cried to put me down but they didn't listen and everyone in my village was mad at me but I was right because after the Jedi took me back to the ship they took me to another planet and sold me. And I stayed there for a few weeks before the King bought me, and I've been here ever since."

"How old were you then?"

"Three I think?"

"How old are you now?"

"Ten. Maybe? I don't know for sure. No one's kept track."

"Do you remember what the Jedi's name was?"

"No."

"Do you remember what they looked like?"

She thought about it for a moment and then shook her head.

"I don't remember. I think it was a lady? It was a long time ago and I was really scared, cause I I was so little" She straightened her back and held her head high before continuing "but I'm big now and I'm not scared of no things anymore." she declared boldly

Obi Wan tried to fight a grin, she was certainly a spirited little thing. He didn't want to argue that just a few minutes ago she was too terrified to even speak to him.

"Are you from Shili or Kiros?"

"Shili."

"Has anyone taught you anything of the force?"

"Anakin was before you came in here."

"Of course, your reading lesson." He gave Anakin an amused look to which the boy responded with a sheepish grin and a shrug. Obi Wan returned his attention to Ahsoka "But before Anakin, was there anyone?"

"No. But I knew I could use it so I practiced on my own to get better. I don't know many things though."

"That's quite alright"

The child was definitely aligned with the light side, so she wasn't of any danger to anyone. Her only lie was of her own confidence, not regarding any details. She was definitely telling the truth, at least from her point of view. Further investigation would definitely be required.

"You can get back to your... reading lesson, if you'd like. I need to call the council and tell them about all this."

"What's the council?" she asked

"They're the leaders of the Jedi" Anakin told her

"But why do you need to tell them about me?"

"Despite what you may believe, selling children is not something that's normally on the Jedi's agenda. If someone in the Order is doing so, we need to find out who and prevent it from happening again."

"Oh" She said softly. She stood up and shifted on her feet awkwardly. Still unsure if the Jedi were actually trustworthy or not. She trusted Anakin, but not Obi Wan. Anakin trusted Obi Wan so that had to mean something, but she wasn't so sure about everyone else.  
Ahsoka looked out the window to see the direction of the planet's sun.  
"the king will be back soon so I should go"

"No! Stay here!" Anakin protested

"Anakin it won't do us any good if she gets in any more trouble, let her go."

Anakin looked like he was thinking of a good argument but before he could open his mouth Ahsoka launched a hug at him and then proceeded to dash out of the room.

Obi Wan shook his head and smiled. He shouldn't be allowing this, but the little girl had already gotten quite attached to Anakin, and if Anakin was the only way to get her to cooperate then he could let it slip for a few days. Besides it was quite endearing.

A call was made to the council, needless to say they weren't pleased with the findings. Some insisting that it wasn't possible, others calling for a full investigation. Obi Wan was permitted to look into Ahsoka's situation further and was forwarded to someone in records to help find out who she was exactly and who was in charge of bringing her to the temple.

With the information Ahsoka had provided them a full name found was "Ahsoka Tano". Her case had been assigned to Master Plo Koon, there were no further records beyond that. Nothing stating any reasons she may have been left on Shili, and of course no records of her being brought to the temple.

Obi Wan knew Plo, he was an even tempered and compassionate individual. He couldn't imagine that it was possible for him to do something as unspeakable as sell a toddler into slavery. Ahsoka had said that she remembered being picked up by a woman, which Master Koon could definitely never be mistaken for. But it could have been Bultar Swan, his padawan who was currently near the end of her apprenticeship.

He didn't think she would do such a thing either, but it wasn't as if someone was walking around the temple with a sign on their head that says "I sell babies to sleemos". If the culprit was obvious they would have been caught already.

Well. That settles it, the next part of his investigation would be to talk to Master Koon. However he still had to deal with matters here. They had come here on a mission after all. Thankfully he didn't think he had to worry about stalling to give time to look into Ahsoka's situation with as slow as negotiations were going.

They still didn't even know what they were going to do with her once they figured out what had happened. He thought fondly of walking in and seeing Anakin reading to the little girl. He sincerely hoped, not just for Ahsoka's sake but for Anakin's too, that they wouldn't have to leave her behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't know what the fuck I'm doing. But at least I'm trying!! I had the start planned out and I pretty much know how I want it to end but this whole middle bit getting there is jst like?????????
> 
> anyway thanks for reading! I know I'm not great at this but hey it's good to have hobbies.


End file.
